A virtual reality experiment on driving speed in smoke during a wildfire evacuation

Abstract: This thesis investigates how individual driving behaviour during an evacuation is affected by the presence of smoke on the evacuation route. The thesis aims are to determine a correlation between the choice of speed and the density of the smoke, determine if there is a difference in choice of speed in relation to the previously driven road segment (in thicker or thinner smoke), and determine if the road positioning (specifically the lateral position in the cross section) is dependent on the smoke density. This was done by performing a virtual reality (VR) experiment where participants drove a car on the road (using a steering wheel and pedals) in an ad hoc wildfire evacuation scenario where no other drivers were present. A total of 46 participants were involved in the experiments and over 84 000 data points of the participants’ instantaneous speed were used to develop two regression models for the choice of speed as a function of optical density; one model using a linear correlation, and one model using a polynomial correlation. The participant also filled out a survey which asked questions about the participant itself and its experiences during the experiment. A reduction of speed due to reduced visibility conditions was observed. No statistical significance could be found to prove that there is a difference in lateral position at different smoke densities or that the sequence of smoke densities had an impact on the chosen speed. Future research should validate these experiments using data from real life scenarios.